Critics Lock Horns Over The Toronto Film Festival

Now, when you have a festival as large as the Toronto Film Festival, the reaction you are going to get from critics will differ substantially, depending on what part of the festival the critic sampled.

The diversity between reviews, often of the same film, could lead a reader to think the festival played a trick on the critics, showing different films with the same title. Obviously, you are going to get critics who love one thing, and hate another, it’s what being a human being is all about, but usually you get reviews that sound like they’re both on the same wavelength. Not this time, it seemed that no one was talking about the same picture.

It was the two ‘small’ films that caught everybody’s attention, but it seems the word ‘small’ needs a re-evaluation. Maybe the films had a small budget, but small ambition? Certainly not! These two films were the fantastic ‘The Visitor’ and the heart-warming ‘Juno’.

The U.S Rights to The Visitor were snapped up for $1 million by Overture Films. Not a record high, but the film needs a determined and committed distributor for a film so complex and in a way, tough to market.

In the film we see Richard Jenkins playing a widowed professor who gets involves in the lives of two illegal immigrants, who were scammed into renting his Manhattan flat. The film is surprisingly loving and humane. It makes you realise your love of movies once more.

Fox Searchlight’s Juno is also an outstanding piece of cinema. This film is being described as being ‘about a teenage pregnancy’, which yes it a part of the film, but is no way what the film is entirely about. The film is a stylized and original comedy about the trials and tribulations of growing up, having responsibility and the importance of friends and family. Ellen Page delivers a stunning performance as Juno, one which smells distinctly deserving of an Oscar nomination.

This year at Toronto saw many films arrive without a distributor. Some say that it was a deliberate effort on the part of the organizers to be more like the ‘discovery’ festival Sundance.

Critics gave the overall festival a thumbs down, with one of two dazzlers emerging from the dust. Generally, ‘Iraq Films’ got a grumpy reaction from critics. Not just the documentaries which focussed on the war but films with Iraq undertones too.

Maybe we’re not ready for films that touch on such a raw nerve?

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